Posted on 05/04/2017 2:16:56 PM PDT by drewh
Prince Philip took a lighthearted view on his retirement today as he joked: 'Well I can't stand up for much longer'.
The Duke of Edinburgh made himself and a crowd of guests roar with laughter while with the Queen at an Order of Merit service at St James's Palace just an hour after announcing he will stop all public royal duties at the age of 95.
Mathematician Sir Michael Atiyah was left in hysterics after stopping him to say: ‘I’m sorry to hear you’re standing down’, to which the Duke replied: ‘Well I can’t stand up much longer'.
His well-earned retirement comes after 70 years dedicated service to Britain and Her Majesty, who has given him her 'full support' to step down.
It was announced at a top secret emergency meeting called by Buckingham Palace and attended by other royals including his daughter Princess Anne.
The difficult decision was made by Philip himself and he will step back just before he and the Queen reach their 70 year platinum wedding anniversary in November. The Queen will continue her public engagements as she has always vowed to serve her country for as long as she lives.
In a statement Buckingham Palace said: 'His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh has decided that he will no longer carry out public engagements from the autumn of this year. In taking this decision, The Duke has the full support of The Queen.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I fear the UK will seriously go off the rails hard once she’s gone. It’s been bad for awhile, but it will get tremendously worse after this. It will be like nothing anyone’s seen before.
I have respected him ever since he openly opposed the last gun control laws. He received a lot of attacks but never wavered in his position.
A retirement well earned. Many (more) years!
The longer the Queen lives, the shorter will be the reign of her extra-chromosome village idiot son, Prince Charles.
Especially if it becomes Charles III up in there. Wasn’t so great what happened to the last one.
Yes. :)
The last Charles died of a heart attack after a life of wine, women and song. It was the first Charles who lost his head.
Her dad taught basic marksmanship to the Queen of the Netherlands in case she ever ran into a Nazi.
The last one was Charles II. He was a terrific king, one of the best.
The Queen has served her country with Honor & Distinction.
Somebody tell Susan Rice that this is what it can look like over in Britain.
She was quite attractive in her younger years.
aww, what a cool side-by-side.
Yep, Charles I was beheaded. Wouldn’t it be an interesting quirk of fate if Charles III should meet his end in the same way? Aloha snackbar.
One of Charles II's courtiers said,
"We have a pretty witty king
And whose word no man relies on.
He never said a foolish thing
And never did a wise one."
Elizabeth did practical work during the war. She was a
mechanic & worked in the motor pool.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.